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Canada's Speed Skating future shines bright. At the first ISU Junior World Cup of the 2018/19 season, Canadian skaters topped the medal table with seven gold medals, five silvers and five bronzes. Two other traditional powerhouses, the Netherlands (6-3-2) and Russia (4-5-4), were second and third.
Dutch Ladies dominate Junior category
The Netherlands won all its medals in the Junior category, with Femke Kok leading the pack. The 18-year-old Dutch talent won the 1000m, the 1500m and joined Marrit Fledderus and Michelle de Jong in the golden Team Sprint squad. Her compatriot Robin Groot even won four medals, but only one gold, when she beat Korea's Dong Hee Kim and Laura Peveri (ITA) in the Mass Start. Groot also took silver in the 1500m and the 1000m, and bronze in the 3000m. Michelle de Jong captured the individual 500m gold and Lemi Williamson (JPN) won the Ladies' 3000m.
In the Junior Men's competition both Hallgeir Engebråten (NOR) and Koki Kubo (JPN) took individual gold twice. Engebråten showed stamina winning the 1500m and the 3000m, while Kubo was the fastest junior in the 500m and the 1000m. The Japanese sprinting prodigy added to his medal collection winning bronze in the Men's Team Sprint, together with Katsuhiro Kuratsubo and Ryo Yamaguchi. Russia (Artem Arefyev, Nikolai Trusov, Sergei Loginov) won the Men's Team Sprint and Germany (Moritz Klein, Max Reder, Lukas Mann) came second. Dutch Yves Vergeer won the Junior Men's Mass Start event, finishing ahead of Lukas Mann (GER) and Tsubasa Horikawa (JPN).
Lamarche and Langelaar lead Canada's Neo-Seniors
Béatrice Lamarche and Tyson Langelaar spearheaded Canada's medal haul in the Neo-Senior Competition, both winning two gold and two silver medals individually. Lamarche won the Ladies' 1500m and Mass Start, and took silver in the 1000m and the 3000m. She was also part of Canada's golden Team Sprint squad, together with Abigail McCluskey and Noemie Fiset. McCluskey also won the individual 3000m gold. The shortest distances in the Ladies' competition was Russian territory, with Irina Kuznetsova winning both the 500m and the 1000m. Together with Kristina Grumano and Veronika Suslova, she also won Team Sprint silver behind Canada and ahead of bronze medal winners China (Chenyu Li, Jie Yang, Adake Ahena Er).
In the Men's competition Langelaar won the 1000m and the 1500m, while coming second in the 3000m and the Mass Start. Jake Weidemann (CAN), who's sister Isabelle won her first Senior World Cup race in Japan last weekend, took gold in the 3000m, ahead of Langelaar and Norwegian Bakken Magnus Haugli. Weideman also won bronze in the 1500m, with Egor Shkolin (RUS) clinching the silver medal behind Langelaar. The Russian beat Langelaar on the line to win the Mass Start event, with Hayden Mayeur (CAN) coming third. Jeffrey Rosanelli (ITA) won the Men's 500m, ahead of Junzhi Zhang (CHN) and By Odin Farstad (NOR). The latter captured gold in the Men's Team Sprint with team-mates Kristian Ulekleiv and Kristian Solland Reinton. China (Bin Zhou, Junzhi Zhang and Yanan Jin) took silver and Italy (Enrico Salino, Jeffrey Rosanelli, Francesco Betti) bronze.
For full entry lists and further information regarding the ISU Junior World Cup Speed Skating Series please visit: https://www.isu.org/speed-skating/speed-skating-events/junior-world-cup-speed-skating. Results are here and you can follow the discussion on social media by using #JWCSpeedSkating and #SpeedSkating.
The ISU Junior World Cup Speed Skating Series is available on demand on the ISU YouTube Skating Channel:
